What Is So Special About Harbeth?

i too owned early mon 40’s -- in the 2003/4 time frame iirc (these were the original monitors, grey britex cabinets with side handles)... had them for about a year, sold my spendor sp100’s to get them -- a big mistake which i continually regretted till last year, when i finally managed to get another set of 100’s back

i had roger modjeski’s wonderful rm9-2 tube amp and an aragon 8008 ss amp back then... neither did well with the 40’s, the tube amp left the bass overblown and uncontrolled... the aragon took care of that but flattened the imaging and made the treble way too ’hifi’

so i too sold the 40’s after a year or so, went to big proac’s, which i just loved...

the mon 40’s certainly need a lot of amplifier bass damping factor, and also, placement is quite critical for finding the right bass balance in room (well well away from boundaries, tough for such a humongous box)... but then the mids and treble are quite revealing, the solid stateness of the powerhouse aragon called too much attention to itself, and not in a good way

all this was a real lesson in getting the room/speaker placement/amp combo implemented just right... learned the hard way...

I drive my M30.1’s with a Pass INT-25 integrated and supplement the 30.1’s with an SVS Micro 3000 sub. Having heard dozens, more probably hundreds of different systems over the past 30 years or so I’d be hard pressed to think of a combo I like more, for MY musical tastes and space. I lean hard to acoustic music and vocals. I like to hear individual instruments with their timbre and color intact. I like to hear space. I want to remove myself from the "real" world and imagine the performers in my apartment; on many recordings I can do that with these speakers; they’re a great match with the Pass INT-25. there’s a sense of intimacy and delicacy that I just don’t hear with most other speakers. I’m thinking about upgrading to 30.2 XD’s but outside of a pair of those for about $5 or $5.5k I wouldn’t even know what to consider near that price.

All but the largest Harbeths struggle when pushed. Seems their mid-woofers simply aren’t designed for high power handling. Their similar competitors often sound better and can play louder before compression sets in. Similar to Focals, their midrange tone sounds unnatural and slightly smeared to my ears (another listener called it "glassy"), the main reason for which I don’t understand the hype surrounding the brand and its Radial material. They do manage to have excellent driver integration, and as such, decent imaging. If coherency is top priority, they may still warrant an audition. I honestly feel Harbeth is one of the most over-hyped brands on the market concerning overall performance, especially at current retail prices. But Harbeth is becoming the Bose of British speakers -- they’re such a powerhouse in marketing that you can tell folks that there are better alternatives until you’re blue in the face -- doesn’t matter, they’re going to sell droves of them regardless.

As for listening to Harbeth, the only local high-end audio retailer specializes in big projects, like wiring houses for complete audio-video systems, though they probably carry some individual speakers. I feel a bit uncomfortable going there just to hear the equipment with no plans to purchase. Might just bite my lip and go in. 

Just call ahead and explain that you want to experience what all the fuss is about. They've almost certainly had similar inquiries. 

Harbeth is becoming the Bose of British speakers -- they’re such a powerhouse in marketing that you can tell folks that there are better alternatives until you’re blue in the face -- doesn’t matter, they’re going to sell droves of them regardless.

Putting it in perspective, Harbeth is a tiny company with 15 employees. Here is their UK business filing (link). Their budget is shockingly small to me (but I work in the tech industry). Hardly what I would call a "powerhouse in marketing".